The next Scheffler? Who gets maiden major breakthrough in 2023?
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PGA TOUR players on Scottie Scheffler’s breakout season
There is one list PGA TOUR players are usually happy to see themselves land on the first time but ultimately want off it as quickly as possible.
Being labeled one of the best players to not have won a major championship shows the level of talent said golfer has shown, but also highlights what they are yet to achieve.
As we kick off another season one thing stands out, the depth of talent is remarkable and there are countless individuals who could place themselves into the history books in 2023 with a major breakthrough.
When you add THE PLAYERS Championship – the TOUR’s flagship event – to the mix you still have a plethora of incredible players who are yet to win at TPC Sawgrass or claim the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open or Open Championship.
BetMGM Sportsbook has framed a market around winning one of the four majors in 2023 with Rory McIlroy leading the way at +225 despite having not won one since 2014. The now three-time FedExCup champion, and 2019 PLAYERS champion, finished inside the top 10 of all four last season.
Scottie Scheffler, the current Masters champ is +300 and Justin Thomas, the PGA Championship winner is +333 to get another major under the belt in 2023. If you fancy Tiger Woods making an epic comeback and winning a major, he sits +1100.
But our focus here is players who have yet to win one. Who are the most likely to add one of the big five tournaments to their name for the first time in 2023? Let’s find out.
The season of championships begins in March 2023 with THE PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass (Mar 16-19) before hitting Augusta National for the Masters on April 6-9.
The PGA Championship heads to Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester New York from May 18-21 before the U.S. Open plays under the shadows of the Hollywood sign at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15-18. The Open Championship will be contested at Royal Liverpool from July 20-23.
Wise is the outlier of this group and perhaps a contentious addition ahead of the likes of Tony Finau (+750) and Tyrrell Hatton (+1100) especially. In 14 starts at the PLAYERS or majors Wise has just two top 25s and zero top 10s. But he is a talent and has proven he can win on TOUR having taken out the AT&T Byron Nelson in his debut season. Last season he gained strokes in all six major strokes gained categories for the first time since 2018, finishing ranked inside the top 31 of four of them.
All aboard! While there is no doubt an element of jumping on a bandwagon here given the small sample size of Kim’s career the fact remains that anyone who can start with a quadruple bogey and go on to win by five shots on the PGA TOUR like Kim did at the Wyndham Championship recently is a star on the rise. With a Presidents Cup appearance added to his confidence bank this 20-year-old will be a major storyline in 2023. Has four previous major appearances with his 23rd place at the 2022 U.S. Open the top result.
The favorite to take out the Arnold Palmer Award as Rookie of the Year from last season Young already has two top 3 finishes in the majors despite his tender experience. Young threatened to take out the PGA Championship (T3) and was runner up at St. Andrews in the Open Championship as well. The big hitter finished second on TOUR in SG: Tee-to-Green and third in driving distance and notched up five other podium finishes outside the majors.
Despite missing the cut in nine of his 15 appearances at majors or the PLAYERS Homa is a prospect on the rise in this category. Armed with the confidence of multiple wins over the last 18 months and a rise to the U.S. Presidents Cup team Homa is poised to better the T13s from the 2022 PLAYERS and 2022 PGA Championship as his best results in the big ones.
Some players burst on to the scene and you just get the feeling a major victory is a matter of when, not if. Zalatoris appears to be another of this ilk and he’d be further up our list if not for the back injury that shut down his 2022 season just as he had hit his breakthrough win in the Playoffs. With two herniated disks to deal with there needs to be some initial trepidation with Zalatoris but don’t forget he already owns five top 10s in majors from nine starts. He has runner up results at the Masters, U.S. Open and the PGA Championship and has been inside the top 26 of his two PLAYERS appearances. His elite ball-striking, if healthy, make him a big chance at all venues.
With four wins in the last 18-month Burns has lived up to the hype that followed him as an amateur. Now 26, Burns is ready to take the next step in his evolution – becoming a major contender. As it stands a T20 in last year’s PGA Championship is his best result in 12 starts in the big five tournaments. Clearly, he hasn’t figured them out just yet but the experienced earned in the last year will prove invaluable. Don’t sleep on him.
The sweet swing of Sungjae Im is made to stand up when it counts. Already owns two top 10s at the Masters from three starts but has failed to bring his best to the other majors thus far. He was a breakout star for the Internationals in 2019 and will look to carry much of the load again in 2022. Runner up in the FedExCup just finished, just one bad Sunday hole away from pushing for it all. How’s this finish to last season… T2-T2-12-T15-T2.
When Hovland defended his World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba last November and backed it up by winning the Hero World Challenge we weren’t alone thinking Hovland might have come off this list in 2022. But while he put up a top 10 at the PLAYERS off the back of two straight TOUR top 5s, he failed to contend at the first three majors of the year. Faith was restored at St. Andrews where rounds of 68-66-66 to start gave him a share of the 54-hole lead at the Open Championship and despite a rough Sunday 74 the T4 gives hope of more chances to come.
It’s almost beyond belief that Cantlay has managed just three top 10s in his 28 appearances at the majors and PLAYERS. His T3 at the 2019 PGA Championship remains his outlying serious contention moment in the big ones despite having a FedExCup, three Playoff wins and two Memorial Tournament titles as part of his eight career TOUR wins. In 20 events last season Cantlay notched 12 top 10s – making it 19 over the last two seasons. His last two U.S. Open results (T15-T14) and a T8 at the Open Championship last season suggest he’s nearing the big scalp he craves.
Take it as read, 2023 is the year Schauffele breaks his major hoodoo. This tenacious Olympic Gold Medal winner has an enviable nine top 10s in majors from 22 starts and also has a runner up at the PLAYERS to boast about. Schauffele has twice been top 3 at the Masters, has three finishes inside the top 16 at the PGA Championship and a runner up at the Open Championship. But it is the U.S. Open where this California kid has shone. He will head to LACC this year with this run of results since debut in the championship. T5-T6-T3-5-T7-T14.
BetMGM Others of Note
Tony Finau +750
Tyrrell Hatton +1100
Daniel Berger +1400
Tommy Fleetwood +1400
Corey Conners +1600
Billy Horschel +1800
Seamus Power +1800
Mito Pereira +2500
Tom Hoge +3300
Kevin Kisner +3300
K.H. Lee +5000
*All odds are to win a major, not including the PLAYERS Championship. Sourced on Wednesday, September 14.
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